photo by Matthew L. T. Hepworth

Echoed Illusions is a band from Sandy, Utah with a fusion of several styles including punk and hardcore with a slight progressive edge.  They have recently recorded a full-length album called Beyond the Line with producer Gregg Hale at Lincoln Street Sound Studios, and many listeners might compare them favorably to Coheed and Cambria, Rush, or Saosin.  Three of the four members of Echoed Illusions are LDS:  Joel Clark, Michael Howell, and Takami Kowalski, and they currently have one member on a full-time mission for the Church, Matt Petrucci.  Joel, Michael, and Takami recently got together to answer a few questions I sent to them, and they talk about their influences, their lineup changes, and the themes you can expect to hear in their songs.

How did you guys get together and how long have you been playing together as a band?
A: Echoed Illusions in its current form has been together for about 5 years. Before that, guitarist/singer Michael Howell and former guitarist Matt Petrucci played in an unnamed acoustic band. Joel Clark hopped on board soon after that project started, bringing drummer Mikey Lofgreen along with him and transforming the band into the Alternative rock band it is today. After a couple of lineup changes involving stylistic changes and members going away to serve missions and leave for college, the current lineup finally emerged as Joel Clark on bass and lead vocals, Michael Howell on rhythm guitar and vocals, Takami Kowalski on lead guitar, and Dylyn Boswell on drums.

Your music seems like alternative rock with some slight progressive tendencies. How would you describe it?
A: We honestly don’t know how to describe our music, besides saying that is 100% us. Every member of the band has different influences ranging from Death Metal to Pop-Punk and everything in between, so we write what sounds good to us. We’ve never tried to aim for a specific genre. We think alternative rock with a progressive tendency is a good way to describe us – we have a contemporary rock sound with no real form to play off of. It’s really exciting to write with so many influences because it gives us uniqueness in every song, and we think fans will be able to find a lot of our music that fits what they personally like.

What influences do you all have as musicians?
A: Like we said earlier, every member has different influences that affect the writing process and their personal playing styles, but we think that the band collectively has a couple influences. Coheed and Cambria would probably be our biggest influence as a band. I also think bands like Anberlin, Saosin, Circa Survive, Story of the Year and Thrice have a big influence over our songs. Mike’s personal influences are Stephen Christian from Anberlin, Maika Maile from There For Tomorrow, Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria, and Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy. Joel’s influences are Matt Hepworth from ZenTherStick, Jaco Pastorius, Anthony Green of Circa Survive and Jonny Craig of Emarosa. Takami’s influences are Relient K, Bullet For My Valentine and Coheed and Cambria. Dylyn’s influences are Joey Jordison from Slipknot, Larry Boswell, Neil Peart from Rush and Travis Barker. We also have non musical influences like Charles Bukowski, William Shakespeare, and Orson Scott Card that affect the lyrics.

Three of the members of your band are LDS, and one previous member, Matt Petrucci, has left the band to serve a mission. How does a shared faith influence the dynamic of your band?
A: Well, since there is one member of the band that is not LDS, we all silently agree not to let that hamper the dynamic of the band. We love Dylyn and absolutely respect his religious views, and we know he respects ours. It always amazes us how tight knit our band is, and we think that has alot to do with the love and tolerance of one another that comes with the LDS church. Every band member has different views and opinions, but we just remember at the end of the day that we are all human, we all enjoy making music together, and nothing could ever tear us from each other.

Could LDS listeners hear a spiritual influence in your music or lyrics?
A: The Spirit influences our music and lyrics in the same way it affects us day to day. Our lyrics are all based on a novel Matt Petrucci was in the process of writing before he left to serve his mission. It is a sci-fi love story about dreams, consequences, and reconciliation. Matt and Mike poured their souls into every one of our lyrics, and since we all love the Savior and try to keep a prayer in our hearts, the spirit is part of us. Therefore: the Spirit sneaks its way into our music.

Your band has worked closely with the legendary Gregg Hale, former Spiritualized guitarist and blogger here at Linescratchers. How is working with him? How did you first meet him?
A: Gregg Hale definitely is a legend. He has worked with so many influential and amazing artists, it’s mind blowing to think he actually produced our album. We met Gregg at a Battle of the Bands he was judging 2 years ago. He wrote on our judging sheets something along the lines of “Love the music, I’m interested in recording you.” After the show we introduced ourselves and found out he was a really great and inexpensive producer, so we pounced on recording our EP, called Lifeless Star. Gregg was awesome to work with, he took our young ignorant band and taught us how to record, how to mix, and in essence how to make our band sound good. Later, with a couple more songs under our belt, we returned to Gregg to record our full length album, Beyond the Line, where Gregg took us one step further and made our album sound exactly like a major label album. Gregg was always great to work with, he always had a smile on his face and was ready to work. With his affordable prices, I HIGHLY recommend him to anyone who may be interested, you will not be disappointed at all.

Your MySpace mentions that you’re working on a project called The Line That Divides Me And Dream. Tell us about it.
A: The Line that Divides Me and Dream is the first novel in a series of three novels that former guitarist Matt Petrucci has started to write. Unfortunately, the writing of that book is on hiatus because of Matt’s mission, but we fully support him there and hope he has a successful and fulfilling mission and he will resume writing the novels. The Line That Divides Me And Dream was also supposed to be the title of our full length album, but we decided to change the name to fit the sound and message of the album.

What venues does your band frequent? Any important shows coming up?
A: We used to frequent The Outer Rim and Rovico’s Coffee House, but shows have tapered off for the band. We’ve recently played shows at Kilby Court and the Murray Theater, but shows have stopped coming so we can focus on writing and recording our full length. Now that the album is finished, we’re going to set up much more shows, hopefully at Kilby Court and the Murray Theater again. Keep checking our Myspace and Facebook accounts for show announcements!

Where can interested readers find out more about your music?
A: We are on Myspace at www.myspace.com/echoedillusions and at Facebook under the name Echoed Illusions. We also have a blog at www.lifelessstar.blogspot.com.

Come Come Ye Saints

On Wednesday, a friend called and asked if I could help her perform the hymn, Come, Come Ye Saints, at a 24th of July celebration (which is basically Utah’s birthday, for the benefit of all you out-of-staters), so I threw together an arrangement, and we performed it on Thursday. It went awesome! She has a great voice, and the performance went well. So on Friday I located a piano and touched up the arrangement to make it a piano solo. So here’s the tune! You’ll notice that I recorded it on a real piano. I’m curious what people think about the sound. I’m not sure I like it better than my GarageBand piano that I usually use, but I’d love to get your input. Obviously I need to work on the best placing for the microphone, but how does this sound compare with the GarageBand piano I use on all my other pieces? Also, let me know if you’d be interested in buying the sheet music for this piece if I made it.

Canoe is currently making their new album, The Ship, available streaming on their website HERE.

American Hollow, with their debut album Whisper Campaign, represents a genre and attitude that is underrepresented on Linescratchers as well as in modern music. With a somewhat aggressive and complex musical approach, coupled with soaring vocal passages and dense lyrical topics, American Hollow delivers atmospheric metal for the thinking rocker.

While I must admit that I was initially disappointed after finding out this album was not in fact a concept album about vampirish goth girls playing 2-person telephone (as the cover suggests), the band more than makes up for it by brilliant passages and obvious attention to atmosphere and mood. As much of the lyrical content on this album deals with the modern human condition, the combination of both music and word create a powerful message against, as ‘State of Decay’ suggests, the strong apathy that permeates in our society. Being a Kentuckian, and playing in a few different counties with various bands, I am extremely proud of these young men and the ambition and vision that the project emanates.

The album opens with the instrumental Terranoia. Beautifully layered, yet noticeably sparse, the track conjures up images of war and isolation. I can’t help but think of Dredg as the opener segues into ‘State of Decay’, what could easily be considered the “hit single” on this album. The following song, ‘Operator’, begins with the intense vocal stylings of the talented lead singer Jameson, who begins with a ‘Prophet Song’-ish vocal layers and overall vibe (for those Queen fans that actually own A Night at the Opera), and ends with lush legato vocals. ‘Constant’ is a great example of how American Hollow combines their musical chops with accessible harmonies and hooks- in the last 30 seconds, you wonder if it’s Danny Carrey from Tool on the drums as Chronos, the band’s drummer, is given a moment to shine and plays like Zeus and his bros are after him. The next track, ‘Gravity’, is a tranquil dip in the narrative of the album, with some excellent work from Kyle Mullikin, the bands guitarist, and the ever-impressive vocals of Jimmy Hollman in beautiful layers. ‘Ilumineye’ reminds me a lot of Lateralus-era Tool, especially at the end of the song. As every progressive album must have it’s epic, ‘Prizards’ is a 13 minute composition that is a worthwhile musical journey for those music lovers who refuse to subject themselves to 2-3 minute songs.

‘Blow Wind! Bring Forth Storm!’ is one of the more interesting tracks on the album. Beginning with technical playing from the band, the song spans numerous musical styles. The song shows the Dream Theater influence of the band, but Jameson’s confident vocal work (which includes screams and growls) and the harmonic 5th’s make me think of Serj Tankian in his better moments. The album ends with ‘Terranoyed’, which is musically similar to the album’s opener but contains layers and samples of a military address in a hanger somewhere. The samples add a nice touch to the instrumental background.

The album as a whole is both atmospheric and aggressive, which to me is a musical metaphor for the internal struggles of the voice of the album. There are moments that conjure up war and aggression, and there are some that evoke isolation and alienation. While progressive metal may not be everyone’s thing, I think that American Hollow’s Whisper Campaign is an admirable effort from a uniquely talented group of musicians and lyricists and is worth investigating.

For Whisper Campaign on iTunes, click HERE.

Recommended if you like:

Good Morning Passenger, released on the Slow Owl label, is the first full album by Ian Friley, who releases music under the name Good Morning Passenger.  Ian has a knack for creating dreamy washes and soundscapes, underscored by humble yet driving rhythms, and wrapped up in catchy, accessible packages.  He comes from a similarly talented family:  his brother is Idiot Glee and Bedtime keyboardist, songwriter, and singer James Friley.

Good Morning Passenger is a surprisingly full, textured, and clear artistic statement, despite being composed of just eight tracks.  It is a brutally honest, hypnotic album, a must-have for deep thinkers, and hopefully it is the beginning of a long life of writing and recording from Ian Friley. I simply love this album.

The album starts off with a track that might be familiar to Ian’s listeners already:  ”Baby Fingers and Baby Thumbs”.  Several of the tracks on this album have been available on the Good Morning Passenger Myspace for a while, but Ian decided to release these tracks along with new material for his first full-length album.  It’s a tender, catchy tribute to a child, and its down-tempo groove sets the tone for the whole album.  Ian’s vocals are always straightforward but usually hidden under processed layers of distortion and compression.  It’s not distracting though.  The songs all seem to call for it, and I imagine cleaner vocals would have sounded a little too stark when juxtaposed with the swirls, washes, and loops that Good Morning Passenger is wont to use.

The album then moves to a little heavier track, “Deadknobs and Doomsticks”, a song title that certainly shows a theme of clever wordplay that is consistent throughout the album.  This is one of the most immediate pleasures of Good Morning Passenger.  Ian uses his lyrics to display emotionally perceptive, wise, yet ambiguous snapshots of his past, like a photo album that is always slightly out-of-focus (in a good way).  When read through, his lyrics really read like a personal narrative in prose.  Each line really gives the listener a sense of seeing the pictures in Ian’s head, if only for a moment:

“Man I swear talking to you is like
driving backwards with both my
eyes closed. I’d rather just say
nothing. But I drove three days to
see your face now you’re screaming”
- excerpt from “Deadknobs and Doomsticks”

Good Morning Passenger explores themes of complex personal relationships, and an even more complex relationship with life and death, as evidenced from the intensely personal stories in “Flowers are for Funerals” and “Cheap Poinsettias”. Reading too deeply into the lyrics here almost give the listener a guilty feeling, as if he or she is prying into stories not meant for their eyes or ears, but the touching sincerity and disarming emotional earnestness of these lyrics really seem to soften all of that. This kind of true honesty is rare in a musical world of trite angsty displays and pseudo-philosophy.

“Empty Beds” is a tune you will find yourself humming the rest of the day, it’s so catchy. In the midst of full, complex arrangements, Good Morning Passenger never forgets to reward the listener with a pleasant hook in every song. The long, tense-and-release atmosphere of each song hides the fact that they’re mostly quite simple in structure, without clearly defined verses and choruses, consisting of almost Mogwai-like loops. “Empty Beds” flows almost seamlessly in tone to the next track, the ghostly “Flowers are for Funerals”.

“Wake the Thieves” is the only track on the album with a co-writing credit, this one with Ian’s brother, James Friley of Idiot Glee and Bedtime. It begins with a simple acoustic riff, and moves into a now-characteristic slow crescendo with catchy melodies on top, and it ends with the creepy almost-shouted line “Wake up the thieves are gone.” “The Fox in the Hole” is a sinister story that uses the image of a fox dragging prey into its hole while reminiscing about the days of their youth together, an interesting but not out-of-place contrast to the blatantly autobiographical lyrics of the rest of the album. Finally, the album ends with “When Children Turn into Monsters”, which displays the most dynamic contrast of any other track. It is a fine track to end a brilliant statement of an album.

Good Morning Passenger is precisely a success because it quits while it’s far, far ahead. From the beginning of the album to the end, each song seems meticulously crafted to draw you unwitting into the stories. However, it is too raw, stark, and real to be any kind of escapist fantasy. The lyrics are so honest that each track leaves you needing to stop and think about what you heard, and luckily Ian understands atmosphere and dynamics well enough to give you the space you need when you need it. It leaves you emotionally drained, metaphysically intrigued, and yet wanting more. You probably won’t ever listen to Good Morning Passenger in a convertible full of friends on the highway with the top down, but you will certainly need it the next time you wish to just sit and think about life for a while, and at the low price that Ian is selling it for, there really isn’t an excuse to not buy it. I highly recommend headphones.

You can find Good Morning Passenger on iTunes and CDBaby.

Good Morning Passenger: A (94/100)

Linescratchers heartily welcomes Charles Stanford, also known as The Archivist, a professional archivist with a typewriter, a scanner, and a skill with memory, history, and detail.  He spent his days in the ’90s playing drums in the BYU music scene, with bands such as Pilot, and has his own blog entitled Desert Loon, where he wrote his first post about Linescratchers in May of 2010.  He responded to my invitation to blog here and we’re happy to welcome him as one of us. - Syphax

from theroot.com

If you’re a musician, then it probably didn’t take a journalistic investigation to come to the conclusion that musicians are poor.  Not only are most musicians poor, but the ones who aren’t poor are actually poorer than you think they are.  That’s the gist of this article I just read at The Root, but like most LDS musicians, this is information that I definitely already knew.

Attaching yourself or your band to the corporate structure of a record label has historically had its advantages:  promotions, studios, tour management, image, marketing, etc., but all those things come at a price.  When it all boils down to it, the average musician in the band makes about $23.40 for every $1000 of music sold.  Of course, money isn’t the only problem with this sort of arrangement.  Record labels are notoriously wary of music that ventures out of the box at all, or goes against an already money-making formula.  Many artists who are signed to labels soon disconnect from the lives that inspired their music, often resulting in the dreaded Sophomore Syndrome.

Sure, the top 0.001% of musicians make a lot of money.  Paul McCartney’s net worth has been valued at around £387,012,000.  Madonna has been valued at around $110,000,000.  Kurt Cobain just might have made more money dead last year than you’ll ever make in your life.  But these are the exceptions, not the rule.  Telling your parents that you want to be a rock star when you grow up is like saying, “Daddy, I want to win the lottery when I grow up.”  In fact, statistically, your chances might be worse in music than they are with the lottery.  Combine this with high gas prices and an economic downturn, and you have a dire situation for those who want to go on tour.  Now sprinkle in the fact that musicians are selling fewer and fewer albums these days, and a public that seems decreasingly interested in local live music.  It’s looking pretty dire, isn’t it?

In the words of Jeff Zentner in a recent interview he did with us, “a lot of people don’t realize how big a musician has to be before they make enough money to even quit the day job.” The cruel circular joke is, in order to get that big, a band usually has to quit their jobs and hit the road on tour.  It only makes sense then that many Mormon parents are frightened when their children want to grow up to be rock stars, to say nothing about the lascivious lifestyles of many touring musicians.  Mormon teenagers are encouraged to grow up, cut their hair, and get a job that will support a wife and kids.  There are good reasons for this, of course, but on the other hand, this leads to many of our best and brightest musicians leaving the fold and becoming lost, and ending up as 50-year-old burnouts with more regrets than records.  Is there a better way?  A way that we can be true to our musical souls without selling our spiritual ones?  Are all our musicians doomed to either leave the Church and go on tour, or spend the rest of their lives only playing hymns for Elders Quorum and Relief Society?

May I make a few points that might be of some assistance to those of you who with existential struggles between your art and the stability of a family life.

1) Technology is changing the way music is recorded. Fifteen years ago, in order to make a decent enough demo to put in your press kits, a band had to buy studio time, usually around $30-40 an hour at least, then get it mixed and mastered.  Putting out a full album could easily take $10,000, without even including the cost of guitars, basses, drums, and amplifiers.  If a band wanted to record the album themselves, and build their own studio, they could easily double that number.  Breaking even was rare, and that’s why so many artists made the deal with the devil (aka record labels) to try and mitigate their losses.  Now, home recording software continues to decline in price.  Many Linescratchers are able to learn how to mix and engineer their own recordings using home equipment and get a pretty decent sound.  The only real cost is getting the whole thing mastered.  Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean the recording studio is a thing of the past.  Mixing and engineering can turn into a nightmare for those who aren’t technically inclined, and even tech geeks find that it’s sometimes better to rely on a professional engineer for the the technical side of things, to free up more of your creative energy for the music itself.  However, Linescratchers all over the world are finding it easier and easier to record their own music on limited resources.

2) The Internet is changing the way music is promoted and distributed. Napster changed everything in this regard.  The record labels are like the mighty dinosaurs:  big, lumbering, and imposing, with a little tinge of feeling entitled to the world.  However, the dinosaurs gave way to a smaller, more efficient, and more numerous creature:  mammals.  Okay, that was a dumb metaphor.  The point is, there may not necessarily be another band like the Beatles that can command a majority of the young public market in the English-speaking world, but there are now riches in niches.  If Epic Viking Folk-Metal is a money-making genre that is making money online, enough to even have concerts, then pretty much any genre has a chance at finding its place online.  Unfortunately, this has led to about three bazillion horrible Myspace bands online with 45 friends.  So finding an audience is still a difficult venture, and it still requires a fair amount of talent to attract people who might be interested in your music, but the key nowadays seems to be to find your audience.  More on this below.

3) Let’s face it – touring sucks. Sure, as teenagers we all thought of “the road” as this glamorous, ideal life, with a cold rock for a pillow and a guitar in your hands, playing for drinks (Coca-Cola) and change all across the country.  It’s undeniable that the people that speak the most highly of going on tour are those who have never done it.  It’s a terribly inefficient way of making fans, it means lots of sleep deprivation and starvation, and, perhaps worst of all, bands that go on tour for years end up becoming completely disconnected from their lives before they were in a band.  There’s a reason The Beatles completely gave up touring when they realized they didn’t have to.  Now this doesn’t mean that live shows are dead.  Absolutely not.  There is a beauty, elegance, and intimacy in watching your favorite bands play live shows.  However, I’m not convinced that losing hundreds of dollars on tours opening for B-grade acts to crowds of a dozen or less is the future of music.  There must be a better, more efficient, less expensive way for bands to play live shows.  I don’t know what it is yet, but local shows organized by groups like the Feel Good Music Coalition seem like they’re headed in the right direction.  What do you think?

4) The ease of home recording and online distribution has led to artists who don’t have to quit their day jobs, and don’t have to compromise their artistic integrity. This is the main conclusion I think we can take from all of this.  The last half of the 20th century might have meant the death of the village musician, replacing him with international billionaire pop sensations, but I think that the 21st century will be the time for the village musician to return.  In this case, the “villages” are online communities with shared interests, like Linescratchers.  The average musician of the 21st century won’t expect to make enough money to buy Swaziland, but they can expect to find an audience who are sympathetic to their sound, as long as they have the talent to back it up.

So don’t despair, my musical friends, and don’t feel like you need to leave the Church to find something that may not even exist out there.  Succeeding in the music of the future will probably require far more humility than the music of the past.  It means you may not make a living with your music, or buy a private jet, or a mansion in Beverly Hills.  You may not be playing for a stadium full of thousands of screaming people.  But perhaps this means that music might just return more to its pure, primal roots, as an end instead of a means to an end.  As I said before, the trick is to find your village or villages.  Find your community.  May I suggest Linescratchers as one example.

My question to you all, as music lovers and creators, is if Myspace is still the go to music site when you are interested in a new band? Pretty much everyone and their dog is on iTunes thanks to places like CD Baby (including us) and a Google search of a band now brings up tracks to listen to with the rest of the results (though notice, Myspace is still the top of that list).  Then there are sites like Spinner and the ever wonderful Pandora that let you hear entire songs and albums for really just being a part of their ad revenue.  The list goes on and on when it comes to music sites and the internet (bandcamp.com is probably my fave).  Does Myspace still hold sway for you all when it comes to music?

For me, the answer is split.  I hear new music in lots of ways, mostly from the above mentioned sites.  I know I can rely on Myspace to have the band’s newest single up for a listen and to get a feel for how the band “is”.  I do however find great information via other sites on the web, mainly the given band’s official website.  People are getting more and more creative with music sharing and marketing on the web and if Myspace does not keep up, they will be going the way of the dinosaur (or maybe they already have).

Jake

For more information about Shaun’s high school band tour, and his international dance competition with So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Mandy Moore, check out the websites at www.liveformusictour.com and www.liveformusicdance.com. The dance competition will be accepting submissions until August 1st, 2010.

If This Is To Be Goodbye – Jeff Zentner
Empty Beds – Good Morning Passenger
Live or Die – Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes
Interview with Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes
You Came Along – Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes
This Time – The Sweater Friends

Once I receive a copy I will let you know by writing a review, but if the rest of the album is anything like what I have now, I can already tell you I’m going to like it.

Unfinished Piece

I’d like to put another instrument or two in this piece, but I haven’t decided what yet. It’s not named yet, and I’ve got some ideas – but I’d be glad to hear your suggestions!

What does it need? What do you like/dislike about it? Tell me what you think!

Chas

Slipscapades SAMPLE

Since it’s fully blizzarding today (in late May!), I thought I’d post a sample of a fun little original piece I’m putting on the Christmas CD called Figure Eights and Slipscapades. I think you’ll see why I call it that when you listen it. It’s a fun little piano duet, and it makes me think of an ice-skating couple. Obviously, they aren’t perfect at skating, and though they have some beautiful synchronized moments, they also have a few slips.

Anyway, Enjoy!

Chas

I just got interviewed by Sarah M. Eden for her blog.

Check it out this Friday!

Anthem of Hope SAMPLE

I DID IT!!! I finished the whole CD in one month. In fact, I think I have more music than I can fit on one CD, so maybe I’ll have some bonus tracks for MP3 CD downloaders or something. I don’t know. Anyway. Here’s a sample of one of the original ones I did for the Christmas CD.

I’ll write a more detailed meaning behind the music deal, but basically it’s about the hope that was renewed with Jesus’s birth.

Again, it’s just a sample, but I hope you like it!

Coventry Carol SAMPLE

I didn’t realize until researching for which Christmas music to choose for the CD that Coventry Carol is over 400 years old! I knew I couldn’t resist using a tune that had been around that long.

What may be lost in all the sensationalism of the past two and a half weeks of trial is that the burden of proof to invalidate Prop 8 lies squarely with the plaintiffs. They cannot win unless they prove that the voters were “irrational” when they chose to preserve the traditional definition of marriage in our state. Contrary to their public relations claims, the outcome of this case does not depend on whether the Prop 8 sponsors can prove that homosexual marriage will harm traditional marriage. The controlling legal issue is not whether homosexual marriage is good or bad, but rather whether the people have the right to decide what is best. The plaintiffs simply did not carry that burden.

The so-called “Yogyakarta Principles,” published by an international human rights group, call for governments to assure that all persons have the right to practice their religious beliefs regardless of sexual orientation or identity. This apparently proposes that governments require church practices and their doctrines to ignore gender differences. Any such effort to have governments invade religion to override religious doctrines or practices should be resisted by all believers. [Emphasis added]

The Right to the Universal Enjoyment of Human Rights
The Rights to Equality and Non-discrimination
The Right to recognition before the law
The Right to Life
The Right to Privacy
The Right to a Fair Trial
The Right to Freedom from Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The right to Work
The Right to Adequate Housing
The Right to Education
Protection from Medical Abuses
The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression
The Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion
The Right to Freedom of Movement
The Right to participate in public life
The Right to Participate in Cultural Life

PRINCIPLE 21. The Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. These rights may not be invoked by the State to justify laws, policies or practices which deny equal protection of the law, or discriminate, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

States shall:
a) Take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure the right of persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, to hold and practise religious and non-religious beliefs, alone or in association with others, to be free from interference with their beliefs and to be free from coercion or the imposition of beliefs;
b) Ensure that the expression, practice and promotion of different opinions, convictions and beliefs with regard to issues of sexual orientation or gender identity is not undertaken in a manner incompatible with human rights.

Under the guise of affirming “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity, the Principles undermine religious liberty. Principle 21 explicitly states that such rights “may not be invoked by the State to justify laws, policies or practices which deny equal protection of the law, or discriminate, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.” . . . What would be the practical application of such a Principle, for example, with respect to a church, mosque or synagogue whose “practice” was to refuse to perform same-sex weddings or commitment ceremonies? [Emphasis added]

. . . the Principles reflect only the views of a narrow group of self-identified “experts” and are not binding in international law: The Principles have not been negotiated nor agreed to by member states of the United Nations – indeed, not a single UN human rights treaty mentions sexual orientation and repeated attempts to pass resolutions promoting broad homosexual rights has been repeatedly rejected by UN member states. Insofar as they represent an attempt by activists to present an aspirational, radical social policy vision as a binding norm, however, the Principles merit closer scrutiny.